Welcome to the Jungle
by PresleyRox
Summary: A/U Arnold and his parents never moved back to Hillwood from San Lorenzo when he was a baby. Helga is just a few days shy of turning 18 when she and her classmates take a senior class trip to San Lorenzo. Little does she know that her arrival has been long anticipated by both friend and foe. And what's up with all the strange dreams she's been having?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the Jungle **

A/U Arnold and his parents never moved back to Hillwood from San Lorenzo. Helga is just a few days shy of turning 18 when she and her classmates take a senior class trip to San Lorenzo. Little does she know that her arrival has been long anticipated by both friend and foe. And what ups with all the strange dreams she's been having?

**Welcome to the Jungle Part One**

_She was running. From what, she didn't know. All she knew is that she needed to get as far away as possible from whatever or whoever was chasing her. So she ran. Running wasn't easy in the jungle. It wasn't like the track field or the running trails at home, no, there wasn't really a pathway and there were trees and other obstacles in the way with every step she took. Her blonde hair was drenched from sweat and clung to her back as she ran. Her chest and legs began to burn painfully and whatever was after her showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, they were gaining on her. Whoever it was had obviously navigated the jungle before. Suddenly, her foot came in contact with a vine and she fell onto the jungle floor hard and painfully. _

_She was too exhausted to move anymore. Giving up, she closed her eyes, preparing herself what was to come. They snapped open again when she felt a presence standing over her. There was a man standing over her. It was dark, so she couldn't see and specific features, except for his green eyes. Somehow, even in the dark they sparkled like emeralds. He lifted a finger to his lips and she understood. Don't make a sound. Gently, he scooped her up in his arms and she felt safe. He ran off the path she had been taking and they disappeared from sight into the thick jungle. _

_She clung to his neck as he ran with her. It didn't take long for him to realize he had managed to lose whoever was after her and he slowed his pace. He eventually stopped near a river and placed her down, so her back was against a tree. She didn't realize how heavily she was breathing until she tried to speak. He handed her a canteen that was connected to his shorts and she greedily drank from it. "Who are you?" She asked, still slightly out of breath._

_He said nothing. Instead, he just handed her a football. She looked at the football very confused. A football? Where did he get a football from? And why did he hand it to her? She looked up at him, even though she could see nothing but his emerald eyes._

_"I'm not going to hurt you." His voice was soothing, "You don't need to be afraid of me."_

_There was something in his voice that her gut told her to trust, "I'm not."_

"Helga."

Helga jumped in her seat. She blinked. She was sitting next to her best friend, Phoebe and was still on the plane to their flight to San Lorenzo. "What? Was I sleeping?" She rubbed her eyes; of course she was sleeping and she was having one of those dreams again. This one in particular had been a reoccurring dream that she started having a few months back.

"Are you alright? You were talking in your sleep for the last five minutes." Phoebe looked at her friend, clearly concerned. "Were you having a nightmare?"

"Something like that." Helga mumbled. She looked out the window. It was still dark out, but she suspected the sun would be rising soon. Their flight out of Texas had been delayed, so they were now set to arrive in San Lorenzo around sunrise. "I wonder how far away we are from San Lorenzo." She paused, "What was I saying in my sleep?"

"A lot of it was hard to make out. It was mostly mumbling, some whimpering. I did distinctly hear you say football. What were you dreaming about?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." She admitted with a shrug, "It was just kind of weird." In fact she had been a lot of strange dreams lately. She figured it was the anxiety of graduation being right around the corner. "I was running." She was always running in the dreams. "I think I was running from someone and I fell. I thought I was a goner for sure, but then someone else showed up and took me away from for whoever was after me. I don't know how to describe it Pheebs…When he picked me up I felt so safe." She paused, "I felt like I belonged there in his arms."

"Really? Then what happened?" Phoebe wiggled her eyebrow suggestively.

Helga rolled her eyes at her friend's suggestion. "Nothing really. He just brought me by a river and handed me a football."

Phoebe furred her eyebrows in confusion. "A football?" She repeated. "Well, I guess that explains why you said football. Though I wonder…Why a football."

Helga shrugged, "No idea." She combed her fingers through her blonde hair, "I cannot wait to get off this damn plane and stretch my legs."

"Me too." Phoebe agreed. The flight from Seattle to Austin had been a relatively quick flight. For some reason the flight from Austin to San Lorenzo seemed to drag. "Are you getting excited for your birthday next week?"

"I'm excited the drinking age in San Lorenzo is eighteen." Helga grinned, "We are going to sneak out of our hotel room to have a drink one night, aren't we?"

"I believe that can be arranged." Phoebe giggled, "Do you think we can get passed Olga though?"

Helga had forgotten about Olga. Her parents gave her an ultimatum. Either Olga chaperons the trip or Helga didn't get to go. As much as it pained her that Olga had to come along, she wanted to go on this trip. "Pfft." She rolled her eyes, "Of course. Give me some credit. Besides, if all else fails all I gotta do is get her to cry. She'll be distracted for hours."

Phoebe laughed, "You're terrible." Though Phoebe knew she couldn't exactly argue with that. She had witnessed it herself on several occasions. The older woman was a bit of a wreck. The littlest things made her cry and she would stay in that state for hours. It was kind of jarring to see a thirty year old woman act in such a way.

The girls fell silent when the pilot spoke over the intercom, "This is your Captain speaking. We are ascending into the San Lorenzo International Airport and should have a smooth landing in approximately twenty eight minutes..."

Helga ignored the rest of the announcement. She turned to look out the window, squinting to try to any bit of land.

_She was in danger. He could feel it in his bones that she was. He should have known that they knew about her too. He had to save her, he just had to find her first. He had been spending more time out in the jungle since one of the elders of the village, a soothsayer, predicted her arrival. If his village knew she was here, they did too. He had to be sure he got to her before they did. She was valuable and not just to the people of his village. They wanted her too, and they would do absolutely anything to have her. _

_He was sure to stay out of sight and moved quietly and swiftly in the shadows of the trees. It wasn't long before he heard it. The snapping of twigs, the sound of leaves being crunched under someone's feet, someone was running and by the sound of it they were being chased. His heart seized. It was her. He could feel it in his soul that it was her. _

_He stepped out the shadows just in time to see her trip over a vine and fall hard on to her hands and knees. She collapsed on her back, seemingly giving up out of pure exhaustion. He needed to act quickly, before they caught up with her. He looked down to her, taking in her beauty. She was even more beautiful than the seer had described. Her hair was the color of the sun and when she opened her eyes, he saw her eyes truly were the color of a clear blue ocean. She looked up at him wide eyed and afraid. He held up a finger, hoping she would take the hint and stay quiet. He was relieved when she did. He scooped her up into his arms and began to run, holding her tightly. Despite the situation he smiled to himself when he felt her arms wrap around his neck._

_It didn't take long for him to realize that he lost them, they must have continued on the path she had been on. She was breathing heavily from running and he knew she needed something to drink. He carefully set her down, resting her back against a large tree. He handed her his canteen and she quickly gulped the water down. "Who are you?" She asked once she caught her breath. _

_It took him a long moment to answer, her beauty rendering him speechless. "I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered, trying to sound reassuring, "You don't need to be afraid of me." _

_He stared into her eyes as she looked into his, "I'm not." _

His eyes snapped open. This wasn't the first time he dreamed of her. The dreams began when he was just a little kid. They had varied over the years, up until recently, most were rather mundane. Some were simply her just reading a book or writing in her journal. In others, he saw her in all the different sports she was in. Just as it was foretold he could see what a fierce competitor she was.

It wasn't until the last few months that his dreams started to become more intense. Before she was never in the jungle, but now it's the only place she was when he dreamed of her. She was always running from someone. From whom, he had a pretty good idea.

Sighing, he decided he needed some air. He got up from his bed and quietly made his way outside. It was late and the other members of the village were still in their huts, sleeping. It was a clear night and the stars and moon were shining brightly, so he could see pretty clearly as he took a walk around the village.

* * *

_He was running, chasing his prey. He had waited years for her and there was no way in hell he was going to let her get away now. She was a fast runner, faster than he was, but she didn't know the jungle like he did. There was only a matter of time before he caught her. _

_He smiled when he heard the sound of someone falling. The girl must have tripped. _

He woke up with a groan. He always woke up when she tripped; he never was able to get to her. Frankly, it kind of pissed him off. He wanted to know what happened next. He wanted to get to her, damn it.

She would be there soon. He could feel it. It was why the dreams had started.

It was only a matter of time.

With that thought he turned to his side, falling back to sleep with a smile on his lips.

* * *

Helga stared out the window as the plane touched down on the tarmac of San Lorenzo's airport. The sun was just beginning to rise and the sky was a beautiful shade of pink. She let out shaky breath as a sudden wave of anxiety swept through her. She tried to shake it off, but it lingered. "Well, we're finally here." She forced a small smile, "After months of waiting we are finally here."

"I have a feeling this will be a trip we will never forget." Phoebe told her friend as she unfastened her seatbelt.

If only the two friends knew how true that statement would end up being. As Helga stepped off the plane another feeling washed over her…

Her life was never going to be the same again.

The old woman's eyes snapped open. "She has arrived." She spoke aloud even though she was alone. She slipped out of bed, putting on her slippers. She quickly made her way outside in search of the young man. She knew about his dreams and she knew he would be out walking somewhere in the village. The sun was beginning to rise and the rest of the villagers would be waking soon. She waited outside her hut, knowing he would walk by soon.

"Arnold." She greeted the moment he came into view. He seemed surprised that she was waiting for him. The old woman was slightly amused that he wasn't used to it yet. She was the village's soothsayer after all; didn't he begin to suspect that she would know these things?

"Geneva." Arnold greeted with a friendly smile after his confusion wore off, "What are you doing up at this early hour?"

"I could ask you the same question." Geneva pointed out, "But I suppose I don't really need to. You have had the dream again, haven't you boy?"

"Yes." Arnold shuffled nervously, tunneling his fingers through his messy blonde hair. He would never get used to Geneva's gift. She always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else in the village. It was slightly unsettling that she knew of the dreams before he even spoke of them.

"She dreams of you too."

This surprised him. "She does?"

"She does, though she does not understand the dreams. Not to worry though, she will understand soon enough." Geneva told him, grabbing the young man's hands. Her green eyes bore into his, "She has arrived. She is in San Lorenzo. You must find her before they do. You know damn well that if I know she's here, he does too. You also know what will happen if they get to her first."

Arnold nodded, "All of us in the village know that. It's just…." He paused, "How will I find her? We don't even know who she really is." Arnold knew he would know her the moment he saw her. He had been seeing her in his dreams ever since he was a small boy. He just didn't know how he would ever find her. The jungle was vast, how was he supposed to find the young woman?

"Even though you have never met, you share a connection. Surely, you've felt it. Now that she is here she'll start to feel it too. That connection will lead you to her. That I am sure of." She placed her hand over his heart, "This will lead you to her. I have a feeling our animal friends will help you along the way too."

Arnold swallowed nervously. "Have you seen it? Have you seen me finding her?" He questioned and the old woman shook her head, "Then how can you be so sure? What if I can't find her?"

"You will." Geneva assured, "It has been written in the stars far before either of you were even born. I just worry they will be after her." She explained quietly, "You need to prepare, I will let you know if I see anything helpful. Now go tell your parents what I told you. Tell no one else of this yet."

Arnold only nodded before running back to the hut he shared with his parents. He ignored the overwhelming feeling of anxiety as he ran.

What if he failed and couldn't find her in time? What would happen to the village if they got to her first? What would happen to _her_ if they got to her first?

* * *

The moment he opened his eyes he knew. She was in San Lorenzo.

He tore himself out of bed. He needed to alert his men to be on the lookout.

It was time.

* * *

I didn't plan on posting this. I really didn't. I have been having some nasty writers block and when this happens I write random things, just to get the creative juices flowing. I never post them though, but after writing this I have so many ideas for this story and just got really excited for it and I felt compelled to share it with you all. I'm still going to work on everything else I have going on, I just needed to get this out because I haven't stopped thinking about it for the past week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first part and if you did please review.


	2. Chapter 2

_To the guest reviewer who asked if Helga forgot about Arnold after he stayed in San Lorenzo. I apologize if it wasn't clear, but this is A/U so Arnold never lived in Hillwood. He and his parents stayed in San Lorenzo, because remember that is where he was born. _

_Thank you to all of those who reviewed. I'm pretty excited for this story, because it's different from anything I have ever written. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and please review._

**Welcome to the Jungle Part Two**

Arnold burst through the door of the hut he lived in with his parents. Like the other huts in the village it was small. It just had two bedrooms and a small sitting area. There was a cooking area near the center of the village where everyone took turns preparing meals for the rest of the villagers. They were a very tight knit community and they almost always ate together. His mother was just exiting her bedroom when Arnold burst through the door. Her light brown that had started to gray over the last year was pulled into a messy ponytail, "Arnold!" Stella jumped back a little, startled, "What's wrong?" Stella's hazel eyes locked contact with Arnold's emerald colored eyes in concern.

"I just spoke with Geneva. She has seen her arrival." A small smile crept onto his lips, "She is San Lorenzo." The more he thought about it the more excited Arnold was to finally meet her. He had dreamed of her so long it was like he already knew her, but he knew there was still so much left to learn about her.

"I had a feeling that the time was coming." Stella whispered before she paused for a moment as realization sunk in, "If she knows he knows too."

"That's what Geneva said." Arnold chuckled softly. "I need to make sure to find her before he does." He sighed, "I'm going to gather some supplies and start scoping out the jungle. Geneva insists that I will find her with the connection we share, but…." He trailed off, unable to finish the thought. "I'll be camping out there for the next few nights."

"You need to have faith Arnold." Stella encouraged quietly, "Geneva is rarely wrong." She fell silent for a moment, "Just please be careful out there."

Arnold offered his mother a small smile, "I always am." He promised. "I'm going to go pack."

Stella watched him disappear into his bedroom before retreating back to her and her husband's room. "Miles. Wake up." She demanded, shaking her husband rather roughly. Like her son, he was a heavy sleeper. "Wake up!"

Miles groaned softly before his eyes blinked open, "What do you want?" He grumpily asked his wife.

"Geneva has seen her arrival. Our son will be camping out in the jungle until he finds her. Go talk to him and make sure he is careful out there."

"Stella you know he always is. He knows the jungle now and-"

Stella cut Miles off before he could continue. "It's not the jungle I'm worried about. They'll be looking for her too, and if we thought they were ruthless before…" She released a ragged breath, "I have a feeling we haven't seen the half of it."

Miles was fully awake now. "I'll talk to him." He combed his fingers through his salt and pepper colored hair. "It's going to be okay Stella." He pressed his lips onto hers, giving her a comforting kiss. "We knew this day was coming for a long time. We're all prepared. Arnold is prepared."

Stella nodded silently. Yes, she and Miles learned of the legend years ago, before Arnold was even born. It wasn't until her son was two or three years old that the village elders shared their suspicions that he was the one that the legends foretold of. When he was nine it was confirmed. They had been preparing for this for years, but Stella was a mother and she was worried about her son.

* * *

Helga Pataki slipped her key card into its slot before opening the door to the hotel room, she was sharing with her best friend Phoebe. "Morning Pheebs." The blonde greeted as she spotted her friend sitting on her bed, flipping through channels on the TV. She was happy to see the raven haired girl's hair was wet, so she knew Phoebe already took a shower and it would be free for her to use.

"Ohayo Helga." Phoebe greeted in her father's native language. The Japanese American glanced at her friend, who was dressed in a pair of hot pink athletic shorts paired with a gray tank top. When Phoebe had woken up earlier that morning she found a note from Helga, telling her she went for a run, "How was your run?"

"Awesome." Helga grinned, "It's pretty amazing running by the ocean."

"You know we aren't supposed to be outside the hotel alone." Phoebe reminded her as she turned off the TV.

"I didn't leave the hotel's property. Relax." Helga plopped herself down on a spot on the floor, not wanting to sit on one of the beds when she was all sweaty from her run. "Besides, I always run with this." She unclipped a small canister off a loop on her shorts. "It's pepper spray. Come on Pheebs. I know I can be careless sometimes, but I'm not stupid." Back at home, she often ran alone in the morning and she brought the pepper spray in case she ever needed it. Luckily she never had to use it.

Helga looked down at her mess of a suitcase. While Phoebe had placed all her clothes neatly in the drawers of the dresser and her dresses hung up in the closet and her suitcase tucked away, Helga still had her clothes messily stuffed in her suitcase even though Phoebe had left plenty of room for her things in the both the dresser and the closet. "Well, I'm gonna hop in the shower. Do you want to get some breakfast before we go to the beach after I get out?"

"Sure. Do you care if invite Gerald along?"

Gerald Johansson was Phoebe's boyfriend of two years, "Whatever floats your boat. Invite whoever you want. Just give me twenty minutes." Helga quickly dug through her suitcase and pulled out a cobalt blue colored bikini and a light pink sundress.

"Are you ever going to put your clothes away?" Phoebe looked down at the suitcase slightly annoyed. She liked order and seeing Helga's clothes in a crumpled up mess was driving her a little crazy.

"Eventually." Helga shrugged, "If it's bugging you so much by all means, unpack for me." She smirked, knowing full well that she would do just that.

"Unpacking." Phoebe had reached Helga's suitcase before Helga even entered the bathroom.

After turning on the shower Helga stripped off her running clothes and threw them in a pile on the floor. She caught her reflection in the mirror for a moment and debated if she should pluck her eyebrows after her shower. Up until she was thirteen, she had a unibrow that took her sister a solid year to convince her to wax. Since then she wore her eyebrows thicker than most girls, but they still required a lot of upkeep to prevent the caterpillar from returning.

Helga took a moment to take in her reflection before she slipped in the shower. Growing up, she never thought she was very pretty. Honestly, she thought she was rather ugly. Once she hit puberty things had changed. She went through 'the change' earlier than other girls and it had been pretty noticeable. Now, without be conceited or stuck up, Helga knew she was attractive. She grew into her once over sized features; she had blonde hair that reached just a couple of inches past her shoulders, and she had a unique shade of blue eyes that matched rather well with one of the shades of her aquamarine birthstone.

Thanks to all of the sports she was in she had a body that most would be jealous of and she was damn proud of it. She loved her muscles. She slipped into the shower and started washing herself. She was excited that by the time she got back from San Lorenzo track would be starting. Out of all the sports she was in track was probably her favorite. Sure, she loved volleyball, basketball, and swimming, but she absolutely loved running. It relaxed her; it was her escape from the world.

* * *

The man with dark brown eyes had sent out the orders. Find the girl and bring her to him unharmed. He knew the brat and the rest of that God forsaken village would be searching for her too, and he didn't want them to find her first. If they did all these years out in the jungle would be a complete waste.

He grabbed his gun and placed it in its holster around his waist. No. He wouldn't be using the gun on her if he found her first, but she didn't know that and he wouldn't hesitate to use it on anyone else that got in his way.

* * *

As promised, twenty minutes later Helga exited the bathroom ready for breakfast. Her hair was still damp from the shower and it was flowing freely down her back. "Thanks for unpacking for me." She thanked Phoebe as put her dirty undergarments into a plastic back and stuffed it in the bottom of the closet. "Where did you put my beach bag and sunblock?"

"I have them over here." Phoebe held up both Helga and her own beach bag. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

Helga nodded, "I'm starving. Is Geraldo coming with us?"

"Yes. So are Curly, Rhonda, and Nadine." Phoebe tossed Helga her beach bag, "We just need to stop by their rooms on the way down."

The group was staying at an all-inclusive resort so they had a quite impressive breakfast buffet. "I don't understand it." Rhonda Wellington Lloyd stated as the group of friends sat down with their plates of food. Her ebony hair was pulled into a high pony tail, "Seriously, Helga. How can you eat all of that and still have your body?" She looked at Helga's plate that was filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. She also had a bowl of fruit. Rhonda looked down at her own breakfast, which was a small bowl of fruit.

"Probably because I ran five miles this morning." Helga explained with an eye roll, "I work my ass off, so I can eat what I want."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way, it's just you have abs! I don't know how you do it." Rhonda ate a bite of pineapple. "It was a compliment really."

Helga shrugged, "I don't know. I'm in a lot of sports. I work out." She bit off a piece of bacon, "Now let's hurry up and eat. I want to get out there and enjoy the beach before it rains this afternoon."

Phoebe and the others exchanged looks, but said nothing. Ever since they were little it seemed like Helga had some weird sixth sense when it came to knowing that it was going to rain that day. Even on days where there had been signs of rain or the weatherman had predicted sunny skies, she brought an umbrella and it always rained. No one, other than Phoebe and Helga, seemed to remember their first day of preschool when Helga showed up muddy and wet. She walked to school alone and was caught in the rain; ever since that day Helga had never been caught in the rain without an umbrella again.

"Are you going to swim with us, Helga?" Nadine asked as she slipped off her jean shorts and placed them in a pile on her beach towel. The group of friends set up their beach towels a few yards away from the ocean. The section of the beach was for hotel guests only so it wasn't as crowded as the other beaches in San Lorenzo.

"Not right now. I ate too much. I need to settle my stomach." Helga was lying on her stomach with a book in hand. "I'm just going to read a little bit before I get in the water. You guys go ahead though. I'll be fine here."

After reading two chapters of her book Helga fell asleep, using her book as a pillow.

* * *

_She was running again. Whoever was after her was close. Who was doing this? What did they want with her? About a month before they left on their trip she and Phoebe watched a documentary about human trafficking, did they want her for that? She was panicking. She didn't know how to get away or out run whoever was behind her._

_She stopped dead in her tracks, preparing herself to face whoever was chasing her…_

_He reached her quickly and she was ready for to fight for her life…_

* * *

Maybe she should stop running. Maybe knowing who was chasing her was better than not knowing.

"Leave her alone. She's sleeping." Phoebe demanded her boyfriend in a low whisper. Gerald was slowing creep closer to Helga. For some reason he thought it would be really funny to scare her awake.

"Come on Babe. She'd do the same to any of us." He crept closer to the sleeping blonde, ready to pounce.

"Gerald! Stop!" Phoebe hissed.

But it was too late. Gerald roared as he grabbed the sleeping blonde's shoulders, laughing while he jolted her awake. His laughter didn't last long.

Somehow five feet eight inches tall Helga managed to flip Gerald onto his back, even though he was a good four inches taller her and at least fifty pounds heavier than she was. Before Gerald could even react Helga was sitting on his waist. Her left hand had its fingers grasped tightly around his throat and her right hand had grabbed the first object in reach, a bottle of sunscreen, and held it high above her head like a dagger ready to stab him.

"Helga!" Phoebe screeched in fear. What the hell was going on? "Helga, stop! It was just Gerald!"

Helga blinked now fully awake. She looked down at Gerald, who looked like he was about to wet himself. Her right hand dropped the bottle of sunscreen and it landed silently on the sand next to them. It took her a short moment to realize she was still sitting on him and still had her fingers grasped around his throat. Quickly, she released his throat and got off from on top of him.

The three friends just looked at each other for a while, not knowing what exactly just happened. Gerald rubbed his throat, "What the hell was that?" He finally asked Helga.

Truthfully Helga had no idea. All she knew she was about to be attacked in her dream and she knew she had to defend herself and the next thing she knew she was practically strangling her best friend's boyfriend. She cleared her throat, "I guess you shouldn't wake me up like that again." She told him, her voice wavering just slightly.

"Yeah, next time you might actually kill me." Gerald mumbled, unable to take his eyes off the frightened looking blonde.

Phoebe laughed nervously, "Well, Helga now that you are awake do you want to go swimming for a while?"

Helga nodded, still trying to figure out just how she managed to get Gerald into that position in first place. She had always prided herself on being strong, but that shouldn't have been physically possible. "Sure." She finally spoke, "Let's go swimming."


End file.
